Graphics Porn (August 2014): Cheat Technical Officer Jim2point0

The Cheat Engine whiz of Dead End Thrills opens up his archives for Graphics Porn

We’re mixing things up again this month to showcase another tour de force of the video game screenshot world. James ‘jim2point0’ Snook is a front-end web developer at eBay Enterprise by day and a devoted screenshot aficionado at night. Just like K-putt, he’s dedicated to showcasing the very best that our favorite games have to offer. Whether that’s a stunning scene or just a particularly awesome ray of light, James is there to grab some spectacular screenshots.

It all started when James stumbled upon some of Dead End Thrill’s screenshots on Reddit. Now, he’s a diehard screenshot-taker. 4K downsampling and a technical-level of control over Cheat Engine—a utility used to modify games—means that James can add free cameras, control over the field of the view (FOV), and even time-stop functions to games like Watch Dogs and Tomb Raider. He’s good enough at it that he’s the de-facto: “Cheat Technical Officer” on the DeadEndThrills forum. His work behind-the-scenes helps people like K-Putt and Dead End Thrills capture such inspiring screenshots.

James’ love of the technical goes beyond Cheat Engine and screenshots. His personal rig is packed to the brink with an Asus Maximus V Extreme motherboard, an Intel Core i7-3770K overclocked to 4.4GHz, two EVGA GTX 780s in SLI, 16GB of 1866MHz Corsair Vengeance RAM, and a QNIX QX2710 2560x1440 monitor.

We’ve got 15 of James’ personal favorites in the gallery below. Check them out and while you’re at it follow him on Twitter to keep up with his latest exploits. Visit his Flickr for the complete collection of his screens as well as higher-resolution downloads. Last, but not least, check out the Dead End Thrills forum for game-specific guides on getting total control over your screenshot adventures.

Whether you've been using Steam's nifty screenshots feature or simply print screening some beautiful wallpaper-worthy game moments, we want to be able to share your captured works of art with the world. If you think you can do better than the pictures submitted below, please email your screenshots to mpcgraphicsporn@gmail.com so we can show them off. Make sure to include the name of the game, a title for the screenshot, and a description of what's happening on-screen.

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Jim2point0's Favorite Screenshots

Dark Souls - Seath's Judgement: It's hard not to enjoy a screenshot with dragons and knights and this one's no exception. A player faces off against a giant demon in a world that's decidedly fantastical.

Dark Souls - The Fortress Awaits: James demonstrates his technical prowess with this screenshot. Without some behind-the-scenes wizardry, the swinging blade traps, hanging chains, and other doodads would be obscured in darkness.

Watch Dogs - Why So Bloomy?: Watch Dogs seems to be a favorite amongst the screenshot-taking crowd and it's not hard to see why. This photo in particular got so popular that it's become almost synonymous with the Worse mod.

Dishonored - The Great Outdoorsman: There's something special about the subtle art style of Dishonored. This shot captures the intricate details of the environment as well as those of the character in the foreground.

Battlefield 4 - Another Day in Paradise: Sometimes inspiration strikes in the midst of some frenetic multiplayer action. Fortunately for James, this particular scene is all about the beauty of an otherwise static environment—a multiplayer map.

Skyrim - Waiting Out the Storm: It's hard to tell what's going on in this shot, but it sure does look pretty. The fog spreading across the floor creates an incredibly somber mood that's very nearly tangible.

Borderlands 2 - Savage: Borderlands 2 is one of James' favorite games and although it's not usually considered to be a technically taxing marvel, there's something undeniably beautiful about this frame. The subtle silhouette of the mountains in the back along with the small sun provide a stark contrast to the savage in the front.

Darksiders 2 - Ruler of the Underworld: James does some serious tinkering to get this out-of-character screenshot. Darksiders 2 might not have lived up to expectations, but it still looks mighty good—at least in this image.